Sheet-metal flume.



'entre srs .amener ernia.

EUDD nannnsr'fz, 0E DENVER, COLORADO, AssIeNoE To THE ELUME IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, E DENVER, COLORADO, A COEPORATIUN or ooLoEano.

recense.

Application led September 7, 1915.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

`Be it known that I, RUDD HARnEs'rr, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented` certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Metal `Flumes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art `to which it appertains to make and use the sa1n`e,reference being had to the accon'ipanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, `which form a part of this specification. Y

My invention relates to improvements in sheet metal flumes, my objectbeing to provide Vsupporting means for a met-al flume of this character where cross beams connecting the sills above the flume proper are necessary, and so arranged that the top of the fiume shall be considerably below these cross bean'ls,` thus preventing the clogging of the fiume or the dannning of the water, due to i the catching of' the floating trash or rubbish,

`upon these beams.

Heretofore much difliculty has been experienced by reason of the damming of the water by the catching of the floating material on the cross beams of the fiume, and efforts have been made to suspend the flume in such a manner as to obviate the necessity of cross beams.V This is successful with the smaller sizes of flu-Ines, butwith the larger sizes where the cross beams are found 4necessary, no'practical means has been discovered heretofore so far as l am aware for overcoming the dicnlty.

l accomplish the aforesaid object, by the employment of brackets which are supported on the sills, their inner portions being offset downwardly, the lower extremities of these brackets being utilized to support the flume, through the agency of' the clamping members which engage the overlapping flume sections.

ln my present improvement, the lower inner portions or flanges of the brackets, are perforated to receive the upper threaded extremities of exterior rods which constitute 'the exterior clamping means of the joint,

while the upper extremities of the inner clamping members bear against the lower surfaces of the said brackets. By virtue yof this construction and ariangement` when the flume is full of water, there is al vays con- Specieaton of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 11, 1918.

Serial No. 49,176.

siderable space between the upper surface of the water and the lower surfaces of the cross beams which connect the sills. This space is believed sufficient to prevent the dannning of the water by the catching of the rubbish upon the cross beams, since the space below these beams will be sufficient to allow the floating' trash to pass.

Having briefiy outlined my present iniproveinent I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being' made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof. In this drawingf- Figure l is a cross sectionl of a sheet metal flume equipped with my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View of the upper left hand portion of the flume as shown in F ig. l, the parts being shown on a much larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line B--f, Fig. 2, looking dowi'iwardly.

F ig. 4 is a fragmentary section of the fiume taken on the line 4 4, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line Fig. 3, viewed in the direction of the arrow.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the body of the fiume which is composed of sheet met-al sections t3 and 7 having interior and exterior overlapping extremities 8 and 9. lThe exterior member 7 at the flume joint is engaged by exterior clamping rods 10 which are spaced to make room for an exterior corru-gation formed by the beads of the overlapping parts. Between the two rods 10 is located an interior i clamping member 12 which engages the inner overlapping part S of the joint and fits into the concavity of the bead.

`The brackets 13 which are employed for suspending the flume, are provided with eX- eriorl'y projecting horizontally disposed flanges 1li which engage the upper surfaces of the sills 15 of the flume. Extending in teriorly beyond the inner extremity of the flange 14 of each bracket, is the body member 1G of the bracket which is formed relatively heavy, being composed of a top hori `zontal part 17, a vertical part 18 and a botstrengthens the bracket. The bottom flange 19 of this bracket, is perforated near its outer edge as shown at 22 to receive the upper threaded extremities 23 of the clamping rods 10, nuts 24 being applied to the threaded extremities of these rods above the flanges 19 of the brackets, to secure the said rods in place, these nuts being screwed down tightly upon the flanges of the brackets f or the purpose of tightly clamping the Joint through the medium of, the rods.

The upper extremities of the inner clamping member 12 engage the under surfaces of the flanges 19 of the brackets, between the clamping rods 10.

As illustrated in the drawing, the exterior lianges 14 of the brackets, as well as the interiorly projecting top parts 17 of any joint are engaged from above by a cross beam 25 of the fiume, the brackets being fiXedly connected with the sills and cross beams by means of bolts 26 which are passed throuO'h registering openings formed in the sills, t ie top flange 1A of the brackets and the eX- tremities of the cross beams, nuts 27 being applied to the upper threaded extremities of these bolts for securing the connected parts in cooperative relation, the lower eX- tremities of the bolts being properly headed, these heads engaging the sills from below. In this manner a substantial fiume suspended structure is formed, while at the same time the upper edges of the flume are considerably below the cross beam 25 of any joint.

The sills 15 may be supported in any suitable manner as by posts 28 arranged on oposite sides and connected by braces 29 which intersect below the flume as shown at 30. This supporting means for the sills may be of any ordinary, suitable or desirable construction and has nothing to do with the present invention.

From the foregoing description and from an inspection of the drawing, it will be noted that by virtue of my improved construction, the suspending brackets 16, while forming the support for the fiume, are themselves maintained in position for the proper performance of their function through the cooperation of the cross beam 25, the sills 15 and the bolts 26. It will be noted that the vertically disposed parts 18 of these brackets fit the inner surfaces of the sills in such a manner as to afford a `substantial and immovable structure.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,-

1. In a flume structure, the combination of side sills, connecting cross beams above the sills, a flume body, and brackets supported by the sills and extending downwardly along their inner surfaces, their lower portions lying directly above the upper edges of the flume body and connected to support said upper edges sufciently below the lower surfaces of the cross beams to `allow floating trash to pass underneath said beams without damming the water.

2. A flume construction Comprising side sills, connecting cross beams above said sills, a flume body, an exterior supporting member engaging said flume body and having its ends extending above the edges of the flume body, brackets supported on said sills and eX- tendinfr downwardly along the inner faces thereof, the lower extremities of the brackets having inwardl extending flanges to which the ends of sai supporting member are secured, the upper edges of the flume bodyl lying below said flanges.

3. A fiume structure comprising side sills, connecting cross beams, a flume body composed of over-lapping sheet metal sections, and exterior and interior clamping members coperating to `form the joints of the flume, and brackets supported on the sills, and eX- tending downwardly along the inner surfaces of the latter, the lower extremities of the brackets having inwardly extending flanges perforated to receive the upper eX- tremities of the exterior clamping members, and means for sec-uring the said clamping members to the said flanges of the brackets, the upper edges of the fiume body, being below said flanges. l

ln testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RUDD HARDE STY.

Witnesses:

GRACE HUsToN, A. EBERT OBRIEN.

Copies or this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, 1J. U. 

